Welcome toThe Federation of Heathfields Infant and Wilnecote Junior SchoolsACHIEVING AND GROWING TOGETHER WITH PRIDE

Wednesday 20th May

Use lasers (or torches) and mirrors to observe light travelling in straight lines.

Investigation
Stick a laser pointer to a table with tape so that it points away from a target on the wall. You must position and hold one mirror so that the laser’s beam reflects off it and onto the target. Then draw or annotate a diagram that shows the beam’s route. Attempt the task again, this time using two mirrors to hit the target before drawing the beam’s route. After each successful attempt, add a new mirror to make your beam’s reflected route more complex.

Investigate how mirrors help us to see objects that are out of direct sight due to light being reflected.

Investigation
Using small hand mirrors, look at and read a series of hidden messages, questions or tasks taped under tables (you will need to get someone in your house hold to set this up like a treasure hunt). Can you recognise that light reflects off objects and mirrors to give a duplicate but reversed image?

Investigate shadows made by single, multiple and coloured light sources.

Investigation
Work in a darkened room and use a single white light to cast the shadow of an object onto a wall. Move the light around the object and observe how the shadow changes. Then swap the white light for a coloured light to see what effect it is has on the shadow. Experimenting with different combinations of two different coloured lights, identify how shadows multiply and appear as different colours. Finally, shine three coloured lights – red, blue and green – at the same object. Observe how the shadows appear in different colours, including yellow, cyan and magenta, due to the mixing of coloured light. Keep a detailed record of your tests and observations to help you look for patterns in your results.